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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: fan · stem · key · pitch · hand · band · mine · face

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. stem — to come from
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. mine — for digging
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. pitch — completely
  9. hand — help
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. face — to confront
  16. band — a music group
  17. key — in music
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. face — to point toward
  20. face — part of the head
  21. key — for a lock
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. hand — in cards
  24. band — a ring

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com